So I have been avoiding writing this blog, as I struggle to come up with what to actually write about. I have been finding this whole process challenging, and having just read the chapter “Less is More” in George Couros’ The Innovator’s Mindset, I can put more into words why this is a struggle for me. There is just no time. There are other limitations as well, but most of the struggles could be solved with more time in a day. The things I want more time for: More time to explore deeply with my students whatever it is they want to explore. More time to let them create to show their learning. More time to celebrate our creations. More time for me to spend with my family and enjoy exploring and creating with my own two small children.

Things I struggle to find enough time for: teaching the basics, teaching the curriculum, teaching all the extra initiatives, teaching kindness and empathy and moral intelligence, teaching self-regulation skills, teaching conflict management skills, teaching English to those students that speak none, planning for an EA, teaching a dance and a song for a spring concert… the list goes on. As teachers we are pulled in so many different directions. I would love less to be more, I would love less to be enough, but it’s not. This job we do is hard. This job we do is so very important, that some days the enormity of our task is overwhelming. I get that the role of a teacher is changing. I get that relationships are the most important part, I see it every day. A classroom needs to be filled with some level of love and compassion to get to a place where we can all take risks and learn together. I get that technology needs to be a part of learning. But I don’t yet get how, how to make it not about being that dreaded $1000 pencil. For example, I like the idea of kids typing their own blogs and keeping electronic journals, but they don’t know how to type. I get that I’m supposed to then teach them how to type but where is the time for that in and amongst all these other priorities? I have access to a computer lab once a cycle.

I’m trying. I’m using ipads to teach research skills, I’m using ipads for google translate, I’m using ipads to attempt dictation for kids who just can’t write. We learn from videos, we use youTube, we use RazKids. But all of those things are only using technology in an adaptive way. And that’s hard enough to manage! How do I possibly get to a transformative way on a consistent basis? I’m trying to innovate ways to sustain kids attention, to keep kids engaged. But in a world where attention spans seem to be getting shorter, our job becomes tougher still. I’m especially trying to teach kids to self-regulate, because as more and more kids struggle with controlling their bodies inside and out, they are not set up to learn much of anything else. But there is only so much time in the day.

Time really is the enemy.

 

Lenore Hewitt   Rockwood School   Cluster 1996